The present invention relates to a connector which comprises a shell and an additional member welded to the shell.
For example, this type of connector is disclosed in CN 204391417U (Patent Document 1), the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Referring to FIG. 24, Patent Document 1 discloses a connector 900 which comprises a housing 910 made of insulator and a shielding member 930 made of metal. The shielding member 930 covers a front part, or the positive X-side part, of the housing 910 in a front-rear direction (X-direction). The shielding member 930 is attached to the housing 910 along the X-direction and is positioned forward, or toward the positive X-side, of the housing 910. The shielding member 930 is formed of two members, namely, a first case (shell) 940 and a second case (additional member) 950. The first case 940 has a fit portion (cylindrical portion) 942 which extends along the X-direction. The cylindrical portion 942 partially covers the housing 910. The second case 950 has a box-like shape.
Referring to FIG. 25, the first case 940 has two connection portions 944. The second case 950 has a cut-out hole 952 and two connected portions 954. When the shielding member 930 is formed, the cylindrical portion 942 is inserted into the cut-out hole 952 from behind to project forward. The insertion brings the connection portions 944 into abutment with rear surfaces, or the negative X-side surfaces, of the connected portions 954, respectively. Subsequently, the connection portions 944 are welded to the rear surfaces of the connected portions 954, respectively. Although each of the two members (i.e., the first case 940 and the second case 950) has a relatively simple shape, they are welded to each other, so that the shielding member 930 can be formed in a complicated shape.
As can be seen from FIGS. 24 and 25, the shielding member 930 is required to be formed prior to the attachment to the housing 910. More specifically, the connection portions 944 of the first case 940 are required to be welded to the connected portions 954 of the second case 950 before the shielding member 930 is attached to the housing 910. Moreover, when each of the connection portions 944 is welded to the corresponding connected portion 954, some maintenance mechanism such as a fixing jig is required to maintain a state where the connection portion 944 and the connected portion 954 are in abutment with each other. In other words, when the shielding member 930 is formed, a maintenance process, in which some maintenance mechanism such as a fixing jig is used, is necessary. This necessity makes a manufacturing cost of the connector 900 increase.